Kim Hye-sung finalized the contract about three hours before the deadline for posting (private competitive bidding) negotiations.
It was faster than Ryu Hyun-jin (currently Hanwha Eagles), who signed with 20 seconds left, and Ko Woo-seok (currently Miami Marlins), who passed the medical test with 7 minutes left, but Kim Hye-sung also made fans nervous until the negotiation deadline.
An official from CAA, Kim Hye-sung's agency, said on the 4th (Korea Standard Time), "Kim Hye-sung agreed with the Dodgers for up to 22 million dollars (about 32.4 billion won) for 3+2 years."
The guaranteed amount is $12.5 million (about 18.4 billion won) for three years and includes an option to extend the two-year contract thereafter.
The Associated Press, MLB.COM, The Athletic, and other U.S. media also reported Kim Hye-sung's trip to the Dodgers.
As Kim Hye-sung agreed to join the Dodgers, the number of South Korean players who signed with the U.S. professional baseball team through posting increased to nine.
Seventeen Korean professional baseball KBO League players, including Kim Hye-sung, sought to advance to MLB with 19 postings.
Jin Pil-joong (retired) and Kim Kwang-hyun (SSG Landers) applied for the second posting.
Six players, including Ryu Hyun-jin, Kang Jung-ho (retired), Park Byung-ho (Samsung Lions), Kim Kwang-hyun, Kim Ha-sung (MLB free agent), and Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants), went straight from the KBO League to the MLB through posting.
Choi Hyang-nam (retired) did not make the big league stage after signing a minor league contract, and Ko Woo-seok (Miami Marlins) signed with the San Diego Padres, but stayed in the minor leagues in 2024, the first year of his contract.
Kim Hye-sung will compete internally to enter the big league from the spring camp in February this year.
Until November 2012, only Choi Hyang-nam was a player who advanced to the U.S. Major League after going through the posting system (closed competitive bidding). When Choi was a member of the Lotte Giants in 2009, he sought to advance to the MLB and signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, who made a bid for the symbolic amount of "101 dollars." He was the first player to move to the U.S. after passing the KBO League of Korea.
In November 2012, Ryu Hyun-jin began negotiations with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which offered a large amount of $25,737,733, the fourth-largest MLB posting amount at the time, and signed the contract 20 seconds before the deadline.
Ryu Hyun-jin recalled, "I didn't have the right to reject the minor league in the contract, so I held on without signing. I included the right to reject the minor league in the Dodgers just before the collapse."메이저사이트
After Ryu Hyun-jin opened the door, his entry into the U.S. through posting increased. Based on MLB's first season, Kang Jung-ho joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, and Park Byung-ho joined the Minnesota Twins in 2016. Until Park Byung-ho, the MLB club that made the highest bid was in the form of gaining the sole negotiation right.
Ryu Hyun-jin gave Hanwha $25,737,737.33 and KRW 28 billion at the time's exchange rate. The Kiwoom Heroes, who have now established their position in the Big Leaguer Military Academy, received Kang Jung-ho's transfer fee of $52,015 and Park Byung-ho's transfer fee of $12.85 million in succession.
With the revision of the posting system in Korea and the United States in 2018, the transfer fee that the club can receive has decreased. The "exclusive negotiation right," which was unfavorable to the player, has disappeared, and all 30 MLB clubs can be negotiated. The transfer fee is 20% of the total amount if the contract is less than $25 million.
In the $25 million to $50 million range, the transfer fee will be 17.5% of the amount exceeding $25 million plus the $5 million, 20% of the $25 million threshold.
If the contract exceeds $50 million, the transfer fee is 15% of the $50 million excess and $50 million divided into two sections, 20% of the first $25 million, or $5 million, and 17.5% of the remaining $25 million, or $4.375 million.
In 2020, Kim Kwang-hyun signed a two-year guarantee contract with the St. Louis Cardinals for an $8 million transfer fee. The SK Wyverns (current SSG) received a $1.6 million transfer fee.
Kim Ha-sung, who signed a four-year, $28 million guarantee contract with the San Diego Padres in 2021, gave Kiwoom $5.525 million in transfer fees.
Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants) is the largest Korean big leaguer to sign after the revision of the posting regulations. Lee Jung-hoo signed a six-year, $113 million contract in December 2023.
The condition is that he can opt out after playing for San Francisco for four years until 2027.
Based on the exercise of opt-out rights, the guaranteed amount for the four years to 2027 is $72 million, and the total guaranteed amount is $113 million when opt-out is not selected.
If Lee Jung-hoo completes the six-year contract, San Francisco will pay $18,825,000 to Kiwoom for a transfer fee. If Lee Jung-hoo opts out, the transfer fee that Kiwoom will receive will be reduced to $12,675,000.
The transfer fee that Ko Woo-seok, who has not yet made the big league stage, can give to the KBO's original fastball team LG Twins is $875,000 to $1.16 million.
Ko signed with San Diego for a two-year guarantee of $4.5 million and a three-year maximum of $9.4 million, before moving to Miami during the season.
Kim Hye-sung will have to pay Kiwoom more than 2 million dollars in transfer fees. The Associated Press reported that the Dodgers will pay Kiwoom in Korea 2 million dollars, or 20 percent of the guaranteed amount. The additional transfer fee will be sent to Kiwoom according to the bonus.
Since the details of the contract between Kim Hye-sung and the Dodgers have not been disclosed yet, the transfer fee cannot be accurately calculated.
Kiwoom continued its pleasant record of five players (including the time of Nexen) who applied for posting, signing contracts with U.S. clubs in a row, and also collected transfer fees. It will continue to follow a good precedent of collecting transfer fees while growing its players and advancing to overseas leagues.